Mission Statement, SO/AN Department, Washburn University

The Sociology/Anthropology department at Washburn University exists to introduce students to the academic disciplines of Sociology and Anthropology. As such, we offer to a broad range of today’s students, a variety of timely, lively, and applicable general education and elective course work, in which we stress the general education goals of an ability to intelligently read, effectively communicate, and assess distinctive human values.

In addition to our obligation to the overall university curriculum, we further make the effort to identify, comprehensively support, and nurture sociology and anthropology majors. We also offer a specialized curriculum to prepare our majors to pursue graduate studies in anthropology or sociology.

Our department transmits content and ways of thinking enabling our majors to compete favorably with other liberal arts majors for careers in an increasingly global economy. The acquisition of this “sociological imagination” involves not only an ability for analytical thinking, but also a strong emphasis on understanding human diversity. This perspective that we offer to our students is often characterized in popular culture as a life-enhancing “people” skill. Our mission incorporates doing our best to prepare students to be enlightened, thoughtful, and well-rounded 21st-century individuals.

Student Learning Outcomes

Anthropology

Anthropology majors at Washburn University, upon graduation, are expected to have:

practiced “cultural relativism” – the ability to understand cultures on their own terms;
demonstrated critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills;
acquired the ability to understand and apply the fundamental concepts of anthropology;
acquired a firm foundation for later professional or graduate training;
satisfied their need for a broad liberal arts education; and
acquired skills and knowledge for successful careers that require an Anthropological background whole.

Sociology

Sociology students at Washburn University, upon graduation, are expected to have:

demonstrated the ability to see and understand the impact of social forces on human behavior;
demonstrated critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills;
acquired the ability to understand and apply the fundamental concepts of sociology;
acquired a firm foundation for later professional or graduate training;
satisfied their need for a broad liberal arts education; and
acquired skills and knowledge for successful careers that require a Sociological background.